Ranma ½ Changes
by Caroline 'Kunoichi' Seawright
Summary: Taking place after the end of the manga, Ranma makes a change in his life...


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Ranma 1/2 - Changes [Short Story]  
  
All characters portrayed in this fanfic are copyright of Rumiko Takahashi  
and Shogakukan Inc, etc, etc, etc.  
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Ranma looked over at Akane.  
  
She's so cute... he thought to himself, a gentle smile playing at the   
corner of his lips.   
  
The pair were on their way to school in the early morning sun. She jogged  
ahead of Ranma, the skirt of her school uniform billowing out behind her  
as she ran.  
  
Ranma followed her at an easy pace. Before leaving that morning, she'd  
given him one of her rare, wonderful smiles that set loose what felt like  
a field of butterflies in his stomach.  
  
"Akane," he called, slowing to a stop.  
  
She turned around and stopped, "What is it, Ranma? We'd better get to  
school before we're late."  
  
"Akane, I ... I'd like to talk to you about something. I think that it  
needs a little privacy ... and, well, the lake is usually empty at this  
time of the morning."  
  
A slight frown creased Akane's forehead, "Privacy? What...?"  
  
Ranma toed the ground as he looked down, his stomach starting to twist  
into knots. He'd said it on a whim, without thinking, as usual. Now he  
regretted it, like he always did... but he didn't want to find a way  
out of it. He needed to tell her this ...  
  
"Please, Akane? I can't explain now ...."  
  
Slowly she walked towards him, and nodded. She gave him a questioning  
look, the frown not leaving her expression...  
  
They walked in silence towards the park, both lost in their own  
thoughts.  
  
Ranma felt worse and worse as he walked. He was scared. It was not a  
feeling that he was used to ... sure, there were cats. They petrified  
him. This feeling, though, was different. He felt ... there were no  
words to describe how he felt.  
  
He breathed deeply, slowly, trying to calm himself.  
  
This was his only fear... his only fear other than cats. But this was  
so much more painful when he thought about it.  
  
Too soon, for Ranma, they were at the pond. He stared at the beautiful,  
blue lake before him, not seeing it. He could feel Akane's gaze, could   
feel her presence. In his own little world, there was only himself and her.  
  
His stomach clenched up tighter, his heart beat sped up. Not even his  
deep breathing kata could help.  
  
"What is it, Ranma?" Akane looked at him, the concern obvious in her voice.  
  
Turning to her, Ranma stared into her eyes. He could feel himself start  
to tremble. Opening his mouth to speak, he licked his dry lips. With only  
a small quiver in his voice, he whispered, "Akane ..."  
  
She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his as she wrapped her arms around  
herself. A cool breeze blew across the lake, playing through her short,  
dark hair.  
  
Ranma forced himself to continue, "I ... I've been living at your house  
for such a long time. Oyaji forced me into it and all... but do you  
remember when I first came, and you wanted to be my friend?"  
  
Akane's lips curved into a gentle smile. "Ee, I remember, Ranma."  
  
"Well, I ... I liked that. I thought you were a sweet, kind girl."  
  
He didn't notice the tightening of Akane's jaw, his eyes seeing into the   
past, not seeing her.  
  
"Then ... well, you know what happened. We fight all the time, and ...  
well. Akane ... when I thought that you were going to die, all of that  
just hit me. You heard me talking to you..."  
  
His mind was on the time, back at Jyusenkyou, where Akane had lain in his  
arms ... deathly still... her body so cold to his touch. The sting of  
his own punch to his face had been nothing compared to that of his heart.  
It felt as if Saffron had reached in to his chest and torn it out... all  
of his hopes and dreams had been shattered ... twice.  
  
I wanted to tell you that I love you! he had silently screamed as his  
tears had fallen... and then she had come back to him.....  
  
"Akane ... I don't know how to deal with everything. I denied it all  
when you asked at... before the wedding... But..." Ranma's voice lowered  
to a whisper, "but it was all true..."  
  
He closed his eyes, not able to keep the tremble out of his voice now.  
Everything in his world had changed after their attempted wedding.  
  
Ranma had realised that there really was only one girl who cared about  
what _he_ wanted. Akane, you would marry me, just to get your father to  
give me the Jyusenkyou water ... Other reactions to the wedding had not  
been quite as selfless as that... He grimaced slightly and took another  
deep breath.  
  
"Akane ... You said that I said that I loved you, when I asked about why  
you were going to go through with the wedding ... well, I do... I love  
you."  
  
Silence met his statement. Ranma felt as if his heart had disappeared and  
been replaced with nothingness... he couldn't handle feeling so vulnerable.  
Nothing in his life had prepared him for any of this ... not love, not  
the pain that came from the hurt he caused in the one he loved, and not  
for opening his heart to the one he loved.  
  
He opened his eyes, and saw tears spilling down Akane's face.  
  
"Ranma ... I love you, too..." came a soft whisper, and suddenly she had  
thrown her arms around his chest, her head buried against his shoulder.  
  
Ever so slowly, Ranma's arms encircled his fiancee.  
  
The tension disappeared from Ranma's body and heart, leaving him feeling  
weak, as if he'd just fought a large battle. He clung to her, never wanting  
to let her go... never wanting to end this moment.  
  
Slowly, Akane turned her face upwards to look at him. Tears clinging to   
her eyelashes, her eyes glistening...   
  
Ranma found himself leaning down to kiss her ... he closed his eyes, and  
her warm lips met his half way.  
  
Their first real kiss.  
  
The butterflies flooded his stomach again ... but this time, he felt warm  
and wonderful.  
  
Akane broke off the kiss. Her tears had ended, now. That heart stopping  
smile was back on her face.  
  
"Let's skip school today, Ranma ... I want to spend some time with you...  
here... today."  
  
The two settled down on the grass, by the lake... Akane resting in Ranma's  
arms. They talked quietly together, the day passing without their notice.  
Walking home together that evening, the smiles never left their lips.  
  
Today, once again, everything had changed.  
  
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Just felt like writing something... didn't feel like writing anything big,  
so it's just a short little character story that takes place just after the   
end of the manga. I wrote it in about an hour...  
  
Sorry, no lemon in this one! ^_~  
  
Thanks to Mark Eymer, Freemage, KaraOhki and G.L. Sandborn for their help!  
  
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http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/fanfics.html  
  
Ja, mata!  
  
Kunoichi@AnimeMUCK  
Kunoichi@AnimeMUSH  
Lum@RanmaMUCK  
Akane@KawaiiMUCK  
Ukyou@Furtoonia  
Kodachi@FictionMUCK  
Caroline@RealLife  



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